Nearly a year after closing its cafe employing people with disabilities at Altona North library, Yooralla is closing its UCAN Cafe in Williamstown.
Yooralla opened its second UCAN cafe at the multimillion-dollar, renovated Williamstown library in November, 2013. It currently employs 10 people.
Yooralla spokeswoman Rebecca O’Keeffe said management had met staff on Monday to discuss the closure.
“Some staff have already begun transitioning to roles in other Yooralla enterprises and one member has transitioned into open employment,” she said.
John Hogg, a former Hobsons Bay councillor who was on the disability advisory committee that spawned the partnership with Yooralla, said he believed the council should do more.
“Although the Williamstown UCAN cafe is well patronised … even with the modest tenancy costs charged by the City of Hobsons Bay, the losses amount to $60,000-plus a year,” he said.
“Yooralla states that this has meant cross-subsidy and a strain on its finances. So … I ask, what has Hobsons Bay council been doing in the meantime and what, if anything, can be done now to save the situation?”
Mayor Colleen Gates said the council was saddened by news of the closure.
“Council continues to look for opportunities to support social enterprise across the municipality, having recently awarded the lease of the cafe at the Laverton Community Hub to Wyndham Community and Education Centre,” she said.
